Carton



United States Patent C) 3,076,590 CARTON William W. Petryk, White BearTownship, Ramsey County, and Joseph A. De Vout, St. Paul, Minn.,assignors to Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul,Minn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 858,898 1Claim. (Cl. 229--51) This invention relates to easily openable cartons,envelopes or the like having an integrally formed removable tear strip.In a specific illustrative embodiment, the invention is directed to abox or carton of rectangular cross-section having a removable endportion and suitable for the storing and dispensing of cut sheets ofsensitized paper.

Integral tear strips have commonly been formed in cardboard boxes orcartons by providing a series of linear cuts along two closely spacedparallel lines defining the sides of the tear strip. The short uncutsections remaining between the ends of the cuts are sulficient to retainthe strip in place during all normal handling, but are easily tornprogressively along the strip as the same is removed by a lifting andtearing motion beginning at a starting end thereof. The structure isadequate with thin and well-unified paper or board as used in many boxesor envelopes.

With thicker or softer paper or board, and more particularly with boardof laminar structure, the simple line cuts of the prior art are found toyield a tear strip area which, under the stresses of removal, frequentlysplits or delaminates, thus providing a source of annoyance anddifiiculty in the removal of the tear strip.

The present invention provides an integral removable tear strip which,while useful with a wide variety of papers or boards, is particularlyadvantageous when used with laminar board constructions, providing atear strip which is completely free of delamination and similardifficulties on removing from the carton.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a carton provided with an integralremovable tear strip in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a detail view showing a typica1 series of cuts defining thetear strip;

FIGURE 3 is a partial side elevation of the carton of FIGURE 1 showingthe starting end portion of the tear strip together with adjoiningsegments of the side section of the carton; and

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the carton blank.

The carton of FIGURE 1 has a rectangular cross section and comprisesupper and lower face sections 11 and 12, side sections 13 and 14 and endsections 15 and 16. A tear strip 17 is integrally formed in the upperface section 11, being defined by two parallel lines of cuts extendingacross the width of said section. A fold line 18 similarly extendsacross the lower face section 12 parallel to the tear strip 17, and theends of the fold line and the tear strip are connected by cuts 19 and 20in the side sections 13 and 14 respectively. One end 21 of the tearstrip desirably extends slightly from the corresponding edge of thecarton and provides a leading end for grasping the tear strip inremoving it from the carton.

Removal of the tear strip, by upwardly pulling at the 3,076,590 PatentedFeb. 5, 1963 end 21, is accomplished without splitting or delaminatingof the laminar board forming the carton. Removal of the strip will beseen to loosen the end portion 22 of the carton, permitting it to beswung around the fold line 18 to a position below the remainder of thecarton, thus exposing the contents thereof and permitting easy removalof said contents. In the case of sheets of paper or the like, the sheetsare easily removable one at a time from the opening thus provided, andthe end portion, in its position beneath the open end of the carton,raises that end from the supporting bench r shelf to a more accessibleposition, while preventing accidental spilling of the contents.

The cuts outlining the tear strip 17 of FIGURE 1 will be seen to be eachin the form of a Y having an extended stem, the stems being arrangedalong the two parallel lines defining the strip. The open top of each Yfaces toward the leading end 21 of the strip and therefore toward thetrailing end of the preceding cut.

A preferred arrangement of cuts is illustrated in FIG- URE 2. The cuts23 and 24 forming the open top of the Y form equal angles with theextended stem 25 and approximately a right angle with each other; andthe distance from the trailing end of the preceding extended stem 26 tothe juncture of said cuts 23 and 24 is approximately equal to the lengthof the latter. In a specific carton as described, designed for thedispensing of 8 /2" x 11'' sheets of sensitized paper, the length of thecuts 23 and 24 was approximately /8", and the length of the extendedstem 25 was approximately 1%". The distance between the two parallellines defining the tear strip was in this instance about The board usedwas a 24 point cylinder boxboard made from natural jute fiber.

Again referring to FIGURE 1, it will be noted that the open top of eachY-shaped cut at one side of the tear strip is displaced from a positionopposite the corresponding open tops of the Y-shaped cuts of theopposing parallel line of cuts, except, in this instance, for the lastsuch cut in each of said parallel lines.

FIGURE 3 illustrates a segment of the side section 14 and the extendedend 21 of the tear strip 17, showing the said end as obtained from thesection 14, and the cut 20 as connected with an end cut of the tearstrip. The opposite end of the tear strip may similarly be pro videdwith a cut connecting the cuts defining the side lines, so that thestrip may be completely severed from the carton; but this is notessential, as the cut 19 may connect either to such cross cut or to anedge cut of the tear strip.

What is claimed is as follows:

In a rectangular cross-section dispensing'carton for sheet materialhaving an openable end portion, means for opening said cartoncomprising: an integral removable tear strip extending across one facesection of said carton at an edge of said openable end portion anddefined by two parallel lines of cuts in said face section, each of saidlines comprising a series of cuts each in the shape of a Y having anextended stem, the stems of each line being parallel to the other ofsaid lines, the open top of each Y facing the trailing end of thepreceding cut and being displaced from a position opposite acorresponding portion of said other line, there being a further outtransversely of said parallel lines at least across the leading end ofsaid tear strip; and a fold line extending across the face section ofsaid carton opposite said 3 one face section and parallel to saidparallel lines; the side edge sections of said carton being each cutalong a line connecting an end of said fold line with an end cut of saidtear strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,680,558 Mai June 8, 1954 4 Brown Mar. 25, 1958 Will May 27, 1958FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Feb. 27, 1894 France Oct. 4, 1926Switzerland May 16, 1938 Great Britain Jan. 2.1, 1949

